Choking, Dying, or Speaking Arabic? With Me, It's Hard to Tell

Arabic. Is. Hard. I can’t even pronounce half the flippin’ letters. To make matters worse, seriously THREE-FOURTHS of the students in my Arabic class already know Arabic. I'm not kidding. What is this about?! This is beginning Arabic people!

I guess, what this is "about," is that there are many Somali students in class who have been reciting the Koran in Arabic since childhood. The only reason they signed up for the class is because they wanted to learn Modern Standard Arabic, rather than the Arabic dialect they have been taught. Plus, I am guessing most of them want to learn Arabic's use in everyday life, rather than simply for purposes of reading the Koran. Some do not know Arabic that well, but speak Somali. This does not matter. For, even if they only speak Somali, they still have a major advantage over me. The Somali language is made up of the same alphabet and consequently the same sounds. So, they at least sound good when trying to de-codify the language.

I sound like I’m choking when I try to pronounce some letters in the “Alif Ba” (translation: Arabic alphabet). Either choking or dying. Take your pick.

On the plus side, the knowledge of my classmates kind of provides me with, well, 10 personal tutors. The guy who sits next to me apparently grew up in Dubai. He tells me what every single word means. And how to pronounce it. Another student who often sits next to me offered pronunciation advice and encouragement today. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It takes practice. You can read the language, that’s a great start.” Ha. Ha.

Proof that I am not joking can be derived from the words of a fellow American classmate. As class ended yesterday - a class where I had thoroughly massacred the pronunciation of a well-intentioned sentence - a girl turned around and tried euphemistically to ask if I would like help. “You know,” she said, “if you ever want to like meet after class, or…” She was stumbling a bit with her words so I stepped in. “You mean, if I ever need help,” I said, and laughed. She smiled and was like, "Yeah with pronunciation or anything – it can be really hard. We sometimes meet after class."

Oh man. You know you need help when the American offers to help you☺. No, she was really nice. I just thought it was funny. In my other class, my lack of ability was not so obvious. Perhaps because there were more people who didn’t speak Arabic, AS NATURAL FOR A BEGINNING ARABIC CLASS. Hmph. Oh well. I guess, I will try to use it to my benefit. N’Shallah! (It means God willing. I know, I know, I am so good.)